Infidel

In her life and work, Ayaan Hirsi Ali personifies the central challenges of our times.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is arguably the bravest and most remarkable
woman of our times.

To understand why this 37-year-old woman is extraordinary,
she must be assessed in the context of the forces pitted
against her in her twin struggles to force the Western world
to take note of Islam's divinely ordained enslavement of
women, and to force the Islamic world to account for it.

A series of incidents this week placed the forces she
battles in stark relief. Sunday Muslims shot up the Omariyah
elementary school in Gaza. One man was killed and six were
wounded in the onslaught. The murderers attacked because the
UN-run school in Rafah had organized a sports day for the
children, in which little boys would be playing with little
girls.

The idea that that boys and girls might play sports together
was too much for the righteous believers. It was an insult
to Islam, they said. And so they decided to kill the little
boys and girls.

On May 3, in Gujrat, Pakistan, Muslims detonated a bomb at
the gate of a girls' school. Their righteous wrath was
raised by the notion that girls would learn to read and
write. That too, they felt, is an insult to Islam.

To save the world for Allah, they decided to
butcher little girls.

On April 28, US soldiers in Iraq discovered detonation wires
across the street from the newly built Huda Girls' school in
Tarmiya, north of Baghdad. They followed the wire to its
source and discovered the school had been built as a
deathtrap. The pious Muslims who constructed the school had
filled propane tanks with explosives and buried them beneath
the floor. They built artillery shells into the ceiling and
the floor. To save the world for Allah, they decided to
butcher little girls.

And the brutality is not limited to the Middle East. Last
month in Oslo, Norway, Norwegian-Somali women's rights
activist Kadra was brutally beaten by a crowd of men piously
calling out "Allah Akhbar." She was attacked for exposing
the fact that inside their mosques in Norway, Norwegian
imams praise female genital mutilation in the name of Allah.

Late last year Hirsi Ali published her memoir, Infidel In
describing her own life, what she actually explains are the
two competing human impulses -- conformity and individualism.
In her own life, the clash of the two has been played out on
the stage of Islamic ascendance and Western cultural
collapse.

Hirsi Ali was born in Somalia to a politically active father
who sought to free his country from Said Barre's Marxist
dictatorship. Forced to flee the country with her family,
Hirsi Ali's childhood in Arabia and Africa revolved along
the axis of Islamic ascendance at the hand of the
Saudi-financed Muslim Brotherhood and Khomeini's Iran.

Hirsi Ali's rebellion against Islam was personal, not
political. As a young girl and later as a young woman, she
found herself abused and stifled by the dictates of Islam
just as her youthful spirit wished most to take flight. As a
five-year-old in Somalia, she screamed in pain and shock
when her grandmother tied her down and had a man with a
knife mutilate her genitals.

Living in Saudi Arabia she was struck by the oppressiveness
of the "true Islam." Why, she wondered were she and her
mother and sister prohibited from leaving their apartment
without a male relative escorting them? As an adolescent in
Nairobi she wondered why the enjoyment she felt in the
company of boys was sinful.

Why did her mother need to suffer the humiliation of
polygamy? Why could she not choose her own husband? Why was
she told by one and all that her normal human impulses to
seek love, respect and compassion and think for herself were
sinful and evil?

As she puts it, "I could never comprehend the downright
unfairness of the rules, especially for women. How could a
just God -- a God so just that almost every page of the Koran
praises his fairness -- desire that women be treated so
unfairly? When the [Islamic teachers] told us that a woman's
testimony is worth half of a man's, I would think, Why? If
God is merciful, why did He demand that His creatures be
hanged in public? If He was compassionate, then why did
unbelievers have to go to Hell?"

In her words, "The spark of will inside me grew even as I
studied and practiced to submit." Ali credits Harlequin
romance novels for her initial mental deliverance from
submission. These books, with their passionate loves were her first glimpse at the possibility of freedom. The novels showed her that the emotions and
desires she was told to repress were natural and could even
be beautiful and right.

Her impulse to rebel was matched by her impulse to conform.
As a teenager, Hirsi Ali tried to be a faithful Muslim and
even joined the Muslim Brotherhood. Embracing the notion of
submission she began wearing a full-body burka.

But try as she might, she could not accept that her own will
had no inherent value. She blamed the preachers for the
terror she saw as a Muslim girl, believing they must be
distorting the Koran. "Surely," she writes, "Allah could not
have said that men should beat their wives when they were
disobedient? Surely a woman's statement in court should be
worth the same as a man's?"

Yet, when she sat down and read the Koran on her own, she
found that everything the preachers had said was written in
the book.

At 21, Hirsi Ali emancipated herself. Fleeing from an
arranged marriage to a Somali immigrant in Canada, she
sought and received asylum in Holland. There, she embraced
Dutch society and freedoms and quickly flourished in a true
rag-to-riches immigrant tale. She learned Dutch fluently and
began supporting herself as a translator. In just four years
she had bridged the cultural divide between Africa and
Europe and began studying political science with the creme
de la creme of Dutch society at the University of Leiden.

A mere decade after her arrival, as a naturalized Dutch
citizen, she was a pubic figure, an outspoken social critic
of Islam in Europe. In January 2003, she was elected to
Parliament as a member of the conservative Liberal Party.

In Holland, she found herself confronted by a kinder,
gentler type of cultural tyranny -- the moral relativism of
political correctness dictated by the Left.

In Holland, Hirsi Ali found herself confronted by a kinder,
gentler type of cultural tyranny -- the moral relativism of
political correctness and multiculturalism dictated by the
Left. Just as she rejected Islamic oppression in Africa, so
in Holland she refused to submit to the will of the majority
not to notice, judge or take action against the misogynist
tyranny and anti-Western culture of the Muslim minority.

Hirsi Ali's labors brought her to Theo Van Gogh. In 2004 the
two produced the film Submission, Part One. The short film
shows a young Muslim woman wearing a translucent burka.
Passages of the Koran permitting the abuse of women are
written on her. The woman prays in submission to Allah
all the while noting her abject suffering in his name. At
the end of the movie, the woman raises her head to Allah and
calls into question the reasonableness of her submission.

The film's provocative message placed both Hirsi Ali and Van
Gogh's lives in imminent danger. And on November 21, 2004
Van Gogh was butchered by a Dutch Muslim on the streets of
Amsterdam. The murderer stabbed a letter into Van Gogh's
chest in which he threatened to murder Hirsi Ali "in the
name of Allah Most Gracious and Most Merciful."

While Hirsi Ali was forced to flee her home and live under
armed guard in army installations, her message proved too
much of a challenge for the Dutch establishment which
vomited her out last year. Her own party found a formality
on which to revoke her citizenship and throw her out of the
country and the parliament. Although the public outcry that
ensued forced the government to restore her citizenship, the
message was clear.

Hirsi Alo moved to Washington, DC. As a fellow at the
American Enterprise Institute she continues to warn the West
of the dangers of Islam and of Western cultural
disintegration under the tyranny of multiculturalism. Just
last month, her work brought an imam from Pittsburgh to call
for her murder for the crime of apostasy.

In her life and work, Hirsi Ali personifies the central
challenges of our times. She holds a mirror up to the
Islamic world and demands that it contend with the evil it
propagates in the name of divinity.

She holds a mirror up to the Free World and demands that we
defend our freedom against the onslaught of moral relativism
and cultural decline.

So too, she demands our compassion for the women of Islam.
She says we must see the suffering beneath the veil and work
to alleviate it. Whether it means that we must mass produce
and distribute Arabic and Urdu copies of Harlequin romance
novels throughout the Islamic world; challenge veiled women
to explain why they ascribe to a faith that gives men the
divine right to beat and rape women; or simply hold Muslim
communities in the West to the standards of freedom on which
our civilization is based, the West must help these women
free themselves from oppression.

Finally, in our own societies we must protect and uphold
voices like Hirsi Ali's. For the past five years, Hirsi Ali
has lived under threat of death for her views.

We must understand that only when she, and people like her
can walk on the streets unafraid will we have properly
defended our freedom.

Visitor Comments: 27

(27)
Rhonnie Goldfader,
May 26, 2007 10:49 PM

XM Radio

I heard Hirsi Ali on the radio a few weeks ago. The horrors of what she spoke about truly made me sick. Does the world know what is out there with these Islamic radicals? How do I get in contact with her? Thanks.

(26)
Adrianna Simeran,
May 24, 2007 9:13 PM

What do yo think of Irshad Manhi? This lady is incredible too.

(25)
Ramon Rivera Vega,
May 21, 2007 9:15 PM

Asleep

The West, particularly the USA, is asleep while the muslims are invading all the countries in the west. The muslims in the USA are similar to those in Pakistan, Arabia, Iran, Indonesia, etc. They are wating for the favorable moment to attack all of us. It will be worst than 9-11. Muslims in the USA should not have the right to dictate the death of anybody, and if they do so, such religions must be declared illegal and should be eradicated for been terrorist.

(24)
Dvirah,
May 21, 2007 4:22 PM

Back to you, David

You have a point but note that I emphasized civil cases, for example monitary matters. I did state that for religious cases a difference was made. Also, even if the stoning (and other such punishments) is/are "on the books", see the Talmud: it was never carried out. A death sentence once in 7 years is called "a murderous court." Moreover, in Judaism changes can be made, however slowly. Do the Moslems have an on-going Responsa which regularly reviews their interpretations of the Koran?

(23)
David,
May 17, 2007 9:56 AM

Dvirah, that's not entirely true!

Dvirah, read the Torah. It's clear that violation of the Sabbath is a capital offense (and not b'yadei shamaim, but by stoning). Moreover, as to female testimony, you also know perfectly well that women are not considered acceptable witnesses in a beis din. I agree emphatically that Islamic views of women and justice are far more archaic and brutal than those of Judaism-- nevertheless, I think we can agree that Hirsi Ali would find many of the same issues (on a smaller scale, perhaps) in Judaism.

(22)
Anny Matar,
May 17, 2007 4:37 AM

My full admiration for Hirsi and may more to come

Although, living in Israel, we rarely hear of the true suffering of the Moslem woman because of fear for her life, she would never be so outspoken. We now learn a bit about it through the Ethiopian immigration where man's absolute rule over women isn't better than ordinary slavery and men are against the involvement of social workers in their lives, because men don't want their women to be taught that men should not abuse women and that women have equal rights. Regrettably they often murder their women for disobdience and subordination with the full approval of their elders. Slowly, the younger generation certainly faster, they are taught their rights and they start adjusting into the 21st Century.The more women will learn it in the Moslem world, hopefully, we'll have less Shaydim in the world.

(21)
JR,
May 16, 2007 2:42 PM

response to "offended"

The person who commented about Judaism not supporting boys and girls playing together as well as our mitzva of bris mila, makes a good point. Although Islam is a perversion of Judaism (so many of the Islamic laws are recognizable as originating in Jewish law), halacha allows for polygamy. Yaakov Avinu had 4 wives, King David had 18. Halacha says a woman cannot be a witness. We believe Hashem is merciful, yet there are executions by Beis Din and the body is hung. We also believe that unbelievers go to hell.

However, this is not the place to explain how halacha, as the will of G-d, is the epitome of justice and kindness.

That her inspiration was Harlequin romances, well ... that's not very impressive.

(20)
Dvirah,
May 16, 2007 2:26 PM

Reply to David, 5/15/2007

It is true that the Torah defines punishments for violating the Sabbath, etc., but it is G-d who carries them out, not the Haredi community. Many women and men have opted out of the Haredi lifestyle with no obviously evil consequences and certainly without being persecuted by the Haredim themselves. Nor does even the most stringent Haredi community condone wife-beating, rape, etc. Also,in all Rabbinic courts in civil cases a women's testimony is equal to a man's in every way (there are some differences in purely religious cases).So what would we say? We'd say "too bad" and that we think she's making a mistake (see for example the comments to the Rolling Stone articles by Ellen Wiess) but if that is her choice, she has the right to make it.

(19)
Anonymous,
May 16, 2007 1:23 PM

i want more artical similar hirsi ali

(18)
David,
May 15, 2007 12:42 PM

L'havdil...

No question that this is a great and courageous woman, and I don't want to make too much of a comparison between the monsters pushing fundamentalist Islam and my own people. But, just for the record, suppose that Hirsi Ali had been raised a Haredi and rejected her upbringing? What would we say? What punishment does the Torah prescribe for Jews who abandon halakha and refuse to follow the Sabbath?

(17)
Anonymous,
May 15, 2007 4:28 AM

I too am offended

There is an interwiew with Hirsi Ali on the website of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, in which she is quoted as saying: "From my superficial impression, the country also has a problem with fundamentalists. The ultra-Orthodox will cause a demographic problem because these fanatics have more children than the secular and the regular Orthodox."When will liberals show toward Fervently Orthodox Jews the same tolerance and open-mindedness they expect from them?

(16)
Moshe Kobi,
May 15, 2007 4:28 AM

Encoureging Moslim females pursue personal freedom

Your excellent review discovers one aspect of a cladestine combat lead by Islamic Foundamentaists against the Western moral values and normes. Thank you for that also.

(15)
Rivka Chaya Avraham,
May 14, 2007 2:56 PM

why?

Please tell me how can Islam teach such hate of non-Muslims? Or does it? Do fanatical Muslims take the context of the KORAN and turn it into something horrid? It is inconceivable to me,that any religious ideology could preach to murder men,women and children who do not believe. And to commit these atrocities in the name of G-D. How sad. Let's think about what we are teaching the world's children?

(14)
Anonymous,
May 14, 2007 11:28 AM

offended

I am constantly offended by articles that paint everything that religious people do in an evil light. While Judaism has never killed innocent children for playing, authentic Judaism does not support boys and girls playing sports together. While we clearly do not agree with the Muslim female genital mutilation, The fundamental mitzvah of bris mila is not so different in its description (a man with a knife attacking the genitals). Orthodox adolescents know that their enjoyment in the presence of the other sex is often sinful. Please, let us criticize the murders and beatings, not the modesty and tzniut.

(13)
Lawton Cooper,
May 14, 2007 10:53 AM

Kol HaKavod, Ms. Glick

Thank you for reminding us in the West of our responsibility to defend and protect those few Muslims (and former Muslims) brave enough to speak out against the evil perpetrated by their co-religionists. For one, we should badger our media into not covering up their message.

So what has happened to that iman in Pittsburgh?

(12)
Anonymous,
May 14, 2007 4:50 AM

muslims read aish?

(11)
Rabiu,
May 14, 2007 3:23 AM

Emphasising the wrong thing

Am a muslim who has been enjoying and benefitting from aish for more than three years now. but some of the issues emphasised cannot lead to peace. true and enlightened worshippers are only looking ways of drawing people to God's ways of doing things. in short this article is frustating; the author chose the work of ONE infidel who makes light, important issues and heavy, light issues based on a novel that told things forbidden are natural and can good. i learn from aish that there r things that are natural but we must guard against it. eg gossip. Pls, emphasis only those things that could cause muslim, and mankind to embrace the world as it is and worship God in its purest form. there is no space for me here to comment on and bring the merit of some of the issues raised here.

(10)
Anonymous,
May 13, 2007 11:21 PM

it is one of the must important subjects of our time.

(9)
Eleanor Gibson,
May 13, 2007 10:36 PM

How?

How do we help? How do we get the message out and understood by our or so liberal congressmen?

(8)
leah,
May 13, 2007 8:17 PM

incredible!

I am amzed at Hirsi Ali's strength-to say the least! I write ot media watch dog organizations. I call the White house and my reps etc...We need all people to do so!

(7)
sylvia zippor,
May 13, 2007 5:06 PM

Send copies to talk hosts and too middle school social science teachers.

(6)
Tulio,
May 13, 2007 4:54 PM

Support Miss Hirsi

We must support voices of freedom like that.

(5)
SHEILA,
May 13, 2007 1:39 PM

ARTICLES BY CAROLINE GLICK

CAROLINE GLICK ARTICLES ARE VERY GOOD; SHE IS VERY PERCEPTIVE, SHE KNOWS HOWI THINK AND EXPRESSES IT BETTER.

(4)
Leo Besser,
May 13, 2007 12:35 PM

For the love of women and freedom they deserve.

The killing must stop. I have a plan that if carried out just might make the leaders of the radicals think twice before they kill another soul. Make it plain that at sun-up the next day, for every muslim that is killed in the name of allah, we will send five Americans to that country. All will be missionaries intent on converting muslims to another faith. One one each from the Jewish front, the Baptist, the Catholic, one Buddist, and one Hindu. What these people need is an education in other religions. For every American that they kill we will double the missionaries. Islam is a religion of peace just like the one Hitler thought was the way to save the world. All Hitler wanted was a piece of Poland, France, Russia, Spain and every small country in Europe. Then he jumped the fence and went to Africa. God don't love ugly and ugly always loses. To me Islam is ugly and soon the world will tire of the killing and Islam will begin to dwendle. It cannot happen soon enough for me.

(3)
Anonymous,
May 13, 2007 11:12 AM

The Truth Must Be Told

This is so important for the truth to be told to this country about how the women are being treated so inhumanely by their own people. I too know what its like to be treated unfairly because I am Jewish, but we are commanded by God in the Torah to treat even the strangers and aliens with respect since we were also slaves and foreigners in other countries. I will pray for the protection of Hersi Ali and others like her, to also find real love, compassion and respect. I am also going to send this article to other e-mail friends to read so they know the truth and get the word out as well.

Emancipation came for Ayaan Hirsi Ali when she sat down and read the Koran on her own. She found that everything the preachers had said was written in the book. She discovered for herself that Islam is the problem. It is a lie, it is diabolical. God help the rest of us to do our own homework and know the truth. And may we also care enough to bare witness to the truth and expose the evil in our midst. The Truth will set us free!

I live in rural Montana where the Cholov Yisrael milk is difficult to obtain and very expensive. So I drink regular milk. What is your view on this?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Jewish law requires that there be rabbinic supervision during the milking process to ensure that the milk comes from a kosher animal. In the United States, many people rely on the Department of Agriculture's regulations and controls as sufficiently stringent to fulfill the rabbinic requirement for supervision.

Most of the major Kashrut organizations in the United States rely on this as well. You will therefore find many kosher products in America certified with a 'D' next to the kosher symbol. Such products – unless otherwise specified on the label – are not Cholov Yisrael and are assumed kosher based on the DOA's guarantee.

There are many, however, do not rely on this, and will eat only dairy products that are designated as Cholov Yisrael (literally, "Jewish milk"). This is particularly true in large Jewish communities, where Cholov Yisrael is widely available.

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein wrote that under limited conditions, such as an institution which consumes a lot of milk and Cholov Yisrael is generally unavailable or especially expensive, American milk is acceptable, as the government supervision is adequate to prevent non-kosher ingredients from being added.

It should be added that the above only applies to milk itself, which is marketed as pure cow's milk. All other dairy products, such as cheeses and butter, may contain non-kosher ingredients and always require kosher certification. In addition, Rabbi Feinstein's ruling applies only in the United States, where government regulations are considered reliable. In other parts of the world, including Europe, Cholov Yisrael is a requirement.

There are additional esoteric reasons for being stringent regarding Cholov Yisrael, and because of this it is generally advisable to consume only Cholov Yisroel dairy foods.

In 1889, 800 Jews arrived in Buenos Aires, marking the birth of the modern Jewish community in Argentina. These immigrants were fleeing poverty and pogroms in Russia, and moved to Argentina because of its open door policy of immigration. By 1920, more than 150,000 Jews were living in Argentina. Juan Peron's rise to power in 1946 was an ominous sign, as he was a Nazi sympathizer with fascist leanings. Peron halted Jewish immigration to Argentina, introduced mandatory Catholic religious instruction in public schools, and allowed Argentina to become a haven for fleeing Nazis. (In 1960, Israeli agents abducted Adolf Eichmann from a Buenos Aires suburb.) Today, Argentina has the largest Jewish community in Latin America with 250,000, though terror attacks have prompted many young people to emigrate. In 1992, the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 32 people. In 1994, the Jewish community headquarters in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 85 people. The perpetrators have never been apprehended.

Be aware of what situations and behaviors give you pleasure. When you feel excessively sad and cannot change your attitude, make a conscious effort to take some action that might alleviate your sadness.

If you anticipate feeling sad, prepare a list of things that might make you feel better. It could be talking to a specific enthusiastic individual, running, taking a walk in a quiet area, looking at pictures of family, listening to music, or reading inspiring words.

While our attitude is a major factor in sadness, lack of positive external situations and events play an important role in how we feel.

[If a criminal has been executed by hanging] his body may not remain suspended overnight ... because it is an insult to God (Deuteronomy 21:23).

Rashi explains that since man was created in the image of God, anything that disparages man is disparaging God as well.

Chilul Hashem, bringing disgrace to the Divine Name, is one of the greatest sins in the Torah. The opposite of chilul Hashem is kiddush Hashem, sanctifying the Divine Name. While this topic has several dimensions to it, there is a living kiddush Hashem which occurs when a Jew behaves in a manner that merits the respect and admiration of other people, who thereby respect the Torah of Israel.

What is chilul Hashem? One Talmudic author stated, "It is when I buy meat from the butcher and delay paying him" (Yoma 86a). To cause someone to say that a Torah scholar is anything less than scrupulous in meeting his obligations is to cause people to lose respect for the Torah.

Suppose someone offers us a business deal of questionable legality. Is the personal gain worth the possible dishonor that we bring not only upon ourselves, but on our nation? If our personal reputation is ours to handle in whatever way we please, shouldn't we handle the reputation of our nation and the God we represent with maximum care?

Jews have given so much, even their lives, for kiddush Hashem. Can we not forego a few dollars to avoid chilul Hashem?

Today I shall...

be scrupulous in all my transactions and relationships to avoid the possibility of bringing dishonor to my God and people.

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